


Equal and Opposite Reactions

by Bonfoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 2015 - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Destiny, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Community: severus_fest, Dark Dumbledore, Dark!Dumbledore, HP: EWE, M/M, Prompt Fic, Suspense, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 15:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3534017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonfoi/pseuds/Bonfoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For decades, Albus Dumbledore manoeuvred Severus Snape into situations where he was bullied, blackmailed, and bemused into darkness.  He bided his time, setting up Severus for a dark and deadly fall, but he forgot how strong Severus' survival instinct was...and he failed to realize that Severus was <b>not</b> unprotected by the greatest magic of all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Equal and Opposite Reactions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Philly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philly/gifts).



> **Beta:** Special, emergency beta by EmJay, my sister. She always steps up, even tho' slash squicks her.  
>  **A/N:** For Philly, thank you for such an open prompt. It's the best gift a writer can get. Blessed Yule to you and yours, and may your New Year be bright with potential. Many thanks to the (Livejournal comm) Severus_fest mods for their kindness and patience as I recovered from illness and a death in the family. Original prompt at the end.
> 
> ORIGINALLY POSTED [here](http://severus-fest.livejournal.com/16926.html).

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

~~~~~~ 

"You can't be serious, Albus!" Severus paced back and forth in front of the headmaster's desk. He was still covered in Longbottom's latest disaster, reeking of bubopus and thestral dung, and fuming at being thwarted in his quest for retaliation for another of Dumbledore's tea-and-planning sessions.

"Severus, please, sit down. You're making Fawkes dizzy." Albus sipped at his tea, eyes tracking every change in Severus' motion until the man dropped into the chair in front of his desk. He pushed a cup of steaming tea in Severus' direction, sending a small plate of finger sandwiches after it. He didn't continue speaking until Severus was holding the cup. "Good. Now that you've gotten that out of your system, why don't you just listen? It's not every day I offer to let you murder me to cement your place in Tom's ranks."

Severus shook his head. "No." He crossed his arms and glared at Dumbledore. "My healing potions have given you almost complete use of your hand again. Poppy says your magical signature is gaining strength every day. None of the other professors will believe you're so weak or that I'm that much of a coward to blast you to smithereens." He set the cup and saucer on Dumbledore's desk and stood up. "I refuse to be part of this scheme. If it works out, **I** will be the most hated man in the Wizarding World, and that's not the kind of notoriety I want." He spun on his heel, stained robes flaring out dramatically behind him.

"Ah, Severus, I see you've been listening to Minerva again," Albus sighed. " _Incarcerous!_ " The magical bindings snapped out of his wand and wrapped tightly around Severus' body until he fell with a dull thump onto the floor. "Now, I can't have you mucking about with my plans. Tom—or should I say, the body that will become my beloved Grindlewald's host—needs you close by for when I'm ready to replace his spirit with my love's. So, look deeply into my eyes, Severus… _don't fight me, boy!_ I won't let you stand in my way."

~oOo~

Severus found himself walked down the stairs to the Slytherin Dungeons, without a clear idea of how or why. He forced himself not to turn around and march back…back to where? He ground his teeth in frustration. He continued to his rooms, nodding curtly at every Slytherin he encountered.

When he stood outside of his quarters, he found himself floundering for that day's password and knew—just knew—that someone had tampered with his finely-tuned mind. Once within the relative safety of his walls, he started his shower and then called forth the Bloody Baron, issuing orders that not even the headmaster could override without all the Hogwarts' ghosts permitting it. The Baron thumped his gauntlets hand on his hollow chest in eagerness as he agreed to Severus' orders and then melted away with a sizzling sound. Severus just stared at the flagstones where the ghost had stood, fuming at Dumbledore's machinations.

He went about his ablutions, finally stripping off his smelly robes and letting them sit on the floor, knowing a house-elf would pop in and take them away once he was safely ensconced in his en suite. He only grabbed a well-worn velvet robe and stalked naked into the already steaming room, slamming the door behind him.

When the house-elf came for his dirty clothing, it searched his room, freezing a portrait where a spy of Albus' was hiding and a small felt mouse that was secreted away to whisper more of Albus' _suggestions_ into Severus' ears as he slept. Satisfied there was nothing else untoward, the house-elf snapped its fingers and a magical scroll appeared, hovering in the middle of the room. Smiling, the house-elf bowed toward the scroll and disappeared silently with his robes.

~oOo~

Severus let the water beat out the stress holding his shoulders rigid. He breathed in the steam, scented with a touch of eucalyptus as he liked it. Inch by inch, his muscles relaxed, his body unbent, and he finally slumped down onto the stone bench along the back wall of the shower. He hung his head until his chin touched his chest and he let his scrambled thoughts swirl around and around, bits and pieces of half-formed memories and incomplete thoughts surfacing and then gradually sinking away. He slowed his breathing, consciously drawing in deep breaths past his lips and then exhaling as completely as he could through his nose. After twenty minutes, he felt centred, even though he _knew_ he was missing time after...after Longbottom blew up his latest plant nutrient potion...which was before...? He stopped that train of thought before all his hard work was wasted.

He stood up, reaching for a bottle of his shampoo, but his hand deviated to the right and toward a smaller bottle. He took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled out of his mouth as his hand closed around it. _Yes, a wank...that won't strain anything,_ he thought to himself as he hunched away from the shower spray, pouring the thick lubricant into the palm of his other hand. He sent the small bottle back to the shelf and leaning against the wall, under the showerhead, he massaged the slick cream into his skin, slathering his cock with long, even strokes. He sighed as his body remembered the motions and he let his mind drift with the sensations of his grip around his penis, the swirl of his palm over the glans as he gave a twist at the top of his strokes, the tightening of the circle of his fingers as he neared the root before beginning all over again.

He tried to focus on Lily, forever lithe and young and vibrant in his memory, but his thoughts turned to strong, weather-beaten hands with a smattering of fine hairs and scars. The body he imagined changed from a curvaceous young woman's to a lean, tall male's with strong thighs and an arse upon which one could bounce a Galleon...he bit his lip as a face formed above a scarred, chiselled chest and he hissed as his grip tightened in recognition: Remus Lupin posed and flexed, showing a healthier body than he'd ever had in truth, moving sinuously as he twisted and writhed in Severus' imagination. When that soft mouth opened and a pink tongue peeked out in a gasp, Severus echoed the ephemeral sound and orgasmed with a grunting cry.

Crumpled against the wall, Severus sighed and turned his body into the still warm shower spray. He washed his hair, scrubbing out the remnants of Thestral dung. He scrubbed at his skin with a rough washcloth until it was red under the water. Then he pressed a stone panel and the spray became finer, and the eucalyptus smell grew stronger. He stood under that special spray for five minutes, not a second longer, and then ran his hand across a barely concealed ledge and turned off the water. As the steam dissipated, he stepped out of the shower and found his towels on the counter, warmed and ready, with his robe on a hanger. He scrubbed his hair dry, shrugged on his bathrobe, tied it, and then opened the door and saw a glowing object floating in the centre of his rooms, and his wand flew into his hand.

"Never a moment's peace," he muttered darkly as he checked over his surveillance spells.

~oOo~

Twenty minutes passed as Severus discovered the frozen painting and the transfigured felt mouse, banishing both to a hidden room only known by the heads of the House of Slytherin. He wove another layer of protective spells around his quarters and stripped from the walls all but the paintings of an alchemist's laboratory and the portrait of Sir Isaac Newton he'd received from his Grandmother Prince's estate.

Once the rooms were secure, Severus addressed the portrait: "Sir Isaac, I need you to carry a message to No. 12 Grimmauld Place, to the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black in the library. No other portrait, sir. This is very important." Newton nodded, rubbing a finger over the small watch fob showing an ouroboros, the very secret sign of a Muggleborn Slytherin. "Then listen well, sir..." Severus leaned close to the painting and whispered his message, Newton nodding at points, and, at others, asking his own soft questions for clarification. "Clear enough?" Severus asked as he stepped back.

"Aye, good wizard. I shall travel with all speed to our brother snake and return post-haste." Sir Isaac stood and made an elegant leg before slipping away past the right side of the frame.

~oOo~

The scroll still hovered in the air behind Severus' back, a silent, golden presence that he'd determinedly ignored up to that point. He pinched his lips together and turned back toward it, his wand coming to bear on it as he approached. "No evil intent, no malicious hexes, not even an obscuring charm...and no magical signature but that of Hogwarts itself," Severus murmured under his breath. Unconsciously, he brought his left hand up to his chin and tapped two fingers against his lips pensively as he glared at the floating scroll.

Suddenly, he burst out, "Baron! Baron, to me!"

The Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin House, seemed to seep out of the wall near the fireplace. His armour reflected the flickering flames eerily as he bowed to Severus, and then, toward the scroll. He then reached up and removed his helm, revealing his features to Severus for the first time.

"Baron?" Severus was shocked as he recognized the face turned toward him. _"You?!"_ he gasped out as he took a step back.

"Aye, good sirrah." The Baron nodded regally. "In times of great change, I am the Slytherin champion. I hight Sirius Brutus Black, bastard out of Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, fostered by the Noble House of Black. I am aware you knew my grandson many generations removed." The smirk that graced that lean face was all Sirius Black, circa 1977.

Grinding his teeth, Severus silently fumed at the apparition. Then his curiosity got the better of him. "What great change is coming?" He began pacing back and forth, his bathrobe flaring out even more dramatically than his teaching robes did. "What does that scroll have to do with it?" he asked as he indicated the other striking thing in his quarters.

"Ye have been chosen, Severus Snape. Hogwarts hast both curst and blest ye." The Baron tipped his head toward the scroll. "If ye but touch a finger to the parchment, ye will be shown thy possible destiny." He smiled thinly. "If ye accept the scroll's promise, ye can experience great happiness as well as great sorrow. If ye deny that promise, ye go to inglorious death, unloved and unlamented." 

"Did you have a scroll?" Severus had seen something in the ghost's mien, something human, as he spoke.

"Ye are a man of insight. Choice was given, and I took hold of it." The Baron stared into Severus' eyes. "I changed my own infamy, loved my own true sweetheart, and brought good fortune to my House and Hogwarts, Severus Snape. I wouldst have died sooner, at the wands and hands of lesser men, and unloved if not. Enow, I reside here, yet my mother and father have shown me my children and their issue living in peace. That peace hast not always been long enough, but it is good and true, Severus Snape. Choose thy noble endeavour or continue on thy road to perdition."

The very air seemed to slow and hang heavy with potential as Severus looked from the Bloody Baron to the scroll hovering before him, and then back again. He seemed to come to a decision and put his wand in his bathrobe pocket before taking two steps and reaching out for the scroll. 

The Baron slid in front of him with a smirk. "A cautious wizard knows to don his kit and armour before entering battle, good Snape." He looked Severus up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps something more substantial, good sir?"

Severus held out his arms, the bathrobe flapping open as he did. "Yes, that would be prudent." He pulled his wand out and with an intricate turn, swish, and flick, he was dressed in his best duelling robes, the protective dragon hide leather hidden by the black boiled wool he preferred. Another motion—this one a stabbing slash—summoned a satchel from his bedroom. After a quick perusal of the contents, Severus slung it over his head and one shoulder. Smirking slightly, Severus addressed the spectre: "There, I've my emergency kit and am ready for a possible duel. Do you approve now, Baron?"

Smirking, the Bloody Baron nodded sharply and made a slight bow toward Severus. "My lady mother once said a prince would grace Father's House, lending nobility to cunning. I thought I was that prince, yet I see now of whom she spoke." The Baron slid his helm on and stood silent as was his wont. As Severus grabbed the scroll, the last clear sight he had was of the ghost saluting him with drawn sword.

~~~~~~ 

Severus came to under a rose bush hedge. He bit his lip to hold back a moan as he fought to open his eyes. Finally, he pried them open, only to see primroses in full bloom against a blue sky. He listened intently, struck by the familiarity of the sounds: a distant metallic clanging; the slamming of front doors and busy street sounds; and, the shouts of young voices.

> "Severus! Severus, come inside. Your grandmam's here!"
> 
> "Comin', Ma!"
> 
> "Where's my Rus?" 
> 
> "He's checking on his little garden, Mother Snape."
> 
> "The boy's more interested in roots and leaves—"
> 
> "Tobias Snape, as I live and breathe, you sputter and growl just like your father. You're a lucky man to have Eileen's green thumb show in Rus. He may grow up to be like that Jacque Cousteau or Dr. Salk, you know."
> 
> "Grandmam! Grandmam, I brought you a flower."

Severus remembered the day. He was ten years old and all nose as his mum said with a smile. His grandmother had come for her annual summer visit...and Severus had manifested a burst of wild magic...

> "Boy!"
> 
> "No, Tobias, no! He didn't mean it!"
> 
> "You killed Ma! You're unnatural, boy!"
> 
> "Grandmam! Grandmam, wake up, wake up..."

The sound of a slap and his mother's screams drew Severus from under the primroses. He rolled to his knees and then stood, his magic barely restrained as he stalked toward the kitchen door, wand clutched in his white knuckles.

He burst through the door, a black tornado bristling with crackling energy. Tobias was crouched over Eileen, who was curled protectively around a broken-hearted young Severus. On the floor nearby, Mother Snape lay, barely breathing.

"You always were free and easy with your fists, old man," Severus snarled. " _Incarcerous!_ " The magical ropes shot out so swiftly, Tobias grunted as they wrapped around him. Once he was taken care of, Severus turned his attention toward his grandmother, ignoring everything else. "And to keep you quiet, _Silencio!_ "

He turned toward his grandmother and cast every examination and healing spell he knew. Then he remembered his satchel and hurriedly searched it for a purple potion. As soon as his hand wrapped around it, he pulled it out, flipping away the cork cap with his thumb. It only took a moment after the first drops touched her tongue, and then...

"Rus?" she gasped. "Where's my Rus?" She reached out blindly, and then stared up in wonder at the adult grandson kneeling by her side. "Oh, my boy, so wonderful..." She sighed and closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

"Mama, Grandmam's not dead."

Severus turned his head toward the pair pressed into the corner. He saw his mother's bruised face and his own young, tear-stained one. He also saw something he'd never seen in his mother's eyes: strength and pride. Mindful of everyone's fragile state, Severus stood up carefully, his wand in clear view.

"You are correct, young man. She'll recover quite nicely, with care." Severus turned his gaze toward Tobias. "Although your father..." his voice faded away as he stood over the silenced man.

"Don't, please, don't," Eileen pleaded. "He's...he's my husband..."

"Can you...?" Mother Snape asked suddenly. "Can you help him? He's sick, too, has been since that old goat came before their wedding."

Severus returned to her side, conjuring a pillow and blanket to cover her. "Can you describe this _old goat_?"

"Hair white as snow, blue eyes sparkling madly. He was too posh to be real." Mother Snape reached out and put a hand on Severus' thigh. "He was a creeper, we used to say."

"You're correct, ma'am, he's a creeper if there ever was one." Severus turned his head to look at his father and narrowed his eyes as he tapped a finger unconsciously against his bottom lip. "He's crafty bastard, too."

"Help me up, young man. I'll think better sitting in a chair," his grandmother demanded. Severus acquiesced and soon Mother Snape, Eileen and young Severus were seated around the kitchen table. Tobias gaped and silently yelled until he realized no one was paying him any attention, and then he subsided into wordless fuming.

"I'll make us some tea." Eileen made to get up, but Severus waved her back down into her seat. 

"Allow me." Severus waved his wand and a Brown Betty appeared on the table, fragrant steam wreathing it. Four mugs floated from a cabinet and in front of each of them. Severus glanced at his younger self and, with a small smile, summoned a plate of biscuits from Hogwarts, slightly surprised when it appeared, the treat still warm from the oven.

"Please," Severus said as he indicated the tea things. "British tea is tea, whether it is magical or not." He bit his lip as his grandmother reached out slowly and took a biscuit while Eileen and young Severus looked on.

Mother Snape took a bite of her biscuit and moaned a bit. "Oh, Eileen, your people definitely know good tea." Mother Snape reached forward and touched a fingertip to a mug, a smile tugging at her lips as the Brown Betty lifted up without any hands moving it. As the tea poured out, she patted Severus' hand and then young Severus' shoulder. "Funny how this young magician," she smiled as Severus' posture stiffened, "ah, wizard, mage, or whatever you call yourself looks so familiar." She glanced toward her silently fuming son and then toward Eileen.

"Mother Snape, I'm so sorry." Eileen wrung her hands in her lap, ignoring the steaming mug of tea floating across the table to gently land before her. "He's, he's—"

Severus interrupted his mother's quavering voice. " _He's_ a long-lost cousin, madam. Severus Prince, at your service." Severus bowed his head and put out his hand, unsurprised by his grandmother's quick clasp. He shared a glance with young Severus, noting the boy's wondering eyes. "It's a family name, young Snape. You'll grow into it."

His younger self fidgeted and then leaned forward. "You're magic..." young Severus breathed out. He kept looking over at his father, who was mouthing loathsome words that were finally going unheard. "Will you hurt Pa?"

"No. I'm going to help him, and you and your mother." Severus sipped his own tea, his glance pensive as he stared at his own personal bogey man. "It should make things easier for you all."

~~~~~~ 

Over several hours, Severus has Eileen unearth her battered potions cauldrons, including the small gold one she would give his younger self. They explained everything to young Severus and Mother Snape, ignoring Tobias' writhing motions. Soon there were two potions: one to strip away undue influence and another to balance Tobias' Muggle humours, as Madam Pomfrey had told a youthful Professor Snape. Young Severus sat nearby, his hands curled around the spindles of his chair. He'd asked question after question about the potions ingredients, their growing conditions and so forth, pleasing Severus with the reminder he'd always been a curious child when at his ease.

Finally, the potions were cooled. With Mother Snape's help, they wrestled Tobias into quiet submission and poured the first potion down his throat. Severus cautiously knelt at his father's side, wand tightly clenched in his fist as he cast a visualization spell to show the gradual decrease of Dumbledore's influences. As the last influence was stripped away, Severus ended the Silencio on Tobias, surprised to hear his father's voice rough with grief. 

"Oh, my poor lad...my poor lad..." Tobias muttered over and over until Severus fed him the other potion, sending him to well-earned rest.

Mother Snape sat at on her haunches, wisps of grey hair curling around her face. "Oh, that's my own boy...how I've missed ye, Toby." She patted at her pockets, nodding her thanks as Severus passed over his own handkerchief. With a fierce swipe at her eyes, she looked from Tobias and Severus. "Thank you, Mr. Prince, for bringin' him back to us."

"Yes...cousin Prince, thank you." Eileen sat tailor-fashion at Tobias' head, running her fingers gently through his hair. 

Severus helped his grandmother up from the floor, leaving his mother to soothe her own pains. "Mother Snape, most Muggles don't accept magic so easily. I congratulate you."

She smiled as Severus led her to the kitchen table, watching him tap the Brown Betty once to replenish their tea before seating her and then dropping into a chair himself. "You are a puzzle, Severus Prince. But, we Snapes have a long memory. My own grandma was from Lincolnshire, near Robin Hood's own Sherwood Forest. She told me about her sister, a wild young thing she was, an' how she could bring the fairy lights home for Christmas." She leaned forward and put her finger alongside her nose. "And many's the time I fixed the sour milk, myself." She nodded at her mug, snapped her fingers, and Severus watched rich, frothy milk fill it half-way.

Severus gaped and young Severus clapped his hands. When Mother Snape pushed the mug toward young Severus, the boy dipped a finger into it, took a taste, and then gulped down the milk with visible glee.

"You're a hedge witch, aren't you?" Severus had only heard of them, Muggleborns whose magical powers weren't strong enough for Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, but who practiced small magicks that could pass undetected by the Ministry of Magic. "You're not just a Muggle."

"Ah, no. The folks of Sherwood have magic in the veriest fingernail, lad. We just know how to hide it from the government, being as we're the kin of Robin's own Merry Men." She reached toward an empty mug, then, with a mischievous look at Severus, tapped her finger on the table and they watched the Brown Betty float over and tip out a generous cup of fragrant tea. "Small magicks, just as you say."

Young Severus set down his mug, a white moustache above his lip. "That was yummy, Grandmam." He leaned against Mother Snape, his eyes slowly dipping down only to fly up a few seconds later. He relaxed into her warmth, making Severus a bit envious. He grunted when she pulled _him_ close, too.

"I never thought to have two grandsons, so let me just enjoy, eh, my Rus?" she whispered into his ear. 

He made his muscles loosen up and soaked in the scent of cinnamon and chamomile he vaguely remembered from his childhood. The scents combined with her warmth and both Severuses were drowsing against her when Tobias woke.

"Leenie? Leenie, my head aches..." he groaned.

"Shh, Toby. You've been ill, love." She looked away from Tobias and glanced over at the kitchen table. "But you're going to be all right from now on." Her fingers never stopped carding through his hair. "We're all going to all right from now on."

Severus leaned more heavily on his grandmother's shoulder and dozed to the sound of his father's voice softened with love.

~~~~~~ 

Severus woke up as fingertips brushed against his cheek. He sighed and then started as he opened his eyes to a face inches away from his. He reared back with an exclamation. "Merlin! Don't do that!!"

Tobias chuckled, a ripple of sound that seemed to warm something inside Severus. When he looked around, he was still in the kitchen, things more worn—but in the manner of being lovingly cared for—the light was different, and...and his mother was fussing at the stove, stirring something fragrant. There was a tabby cat asleep under a foot stool by the back door. All in all, it felt like a proper home.

"It worked?" Severus asked in a husky voice. 

"Aye, lad. You saved the Snapes." Tobias leaned back, a soft look on his face as he stared at Severus. "Yer a strong man, as my mum said you'd be, Sev. I'm just that sorry to be letting you go back to that war of those devils." He reached for a cup of tea and raised it in a toasting gesture toward Severus. "But, if needs must, I send you with my blessings, and curses for them." He took a deep draught and set the cup down on the table, his work-gnarled hands curled around it.

"Now, yer young man...don't look so skittish, lad. Yer ma said he's been by every three days, bringin' greens and a basket of jams and breads, askin' if ye've called or sent word." Tobias stared at Severus and sighed. "Yer ma says it's normal courtin', which I say is jest another way of fattenin' the calf, but—"

"But nothing, Tobias Snape. That young man is worried about our Sev, has been for years, and now he's old enough to know there's more to it." Eileen put down a plate of food in front of each man and then pulled her wand from her apron pocket and summoned her own from the counter. "Now, eat. I told your young man to come after dark, after the local bobbies have passed. We'll all sit down and you'll tell us what you can about the Headmaster's plots, and we'll make another plan to foul him." She suited deed to word and applied herself to the dinner before her, making small talk about the local grocer and how she was supplying him with fresh herbs and spices while Tobias interjected praise and spoke of his own hobby of growing fruit trees in the backyard in exchange for taking a cut in hours at the factory. Severus just nodded, ate and drank, and soaked in the warmth he'd always missed.

~~~~~~ 

At ten minutes after nine o'clock, Severus heard a knock that sounded vaguely familiar and stood up nervously. His mother glanced at him with a knowing smile and went to answer the door. There were low voices sharing greetings and then Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were standing in Severus Snape's living room.

"Snape." Black wasn't cold, but his greeting was polite as he shook hands with Tobias. "Mr. Snape, would you care to show this year's trees? I want to know if those pears flowered yet." He held out a elbow toward Eileen. "And you, young lady, what new spice mixtures have you come up with? My girlfriend says that last batch with the ginger and white pepper was fantastic on her chicken and I have to bring some back..." And, deftly, he manoeuvred the elder Snapes out of the living room, through the kitchen, and into the backyard, the soft snick of the lock coming behind them.

Severus licked his lips, suddenly feeling less like a Slytherin and a spy and more like a teenager at the mercy of his emotions. He looked everywhere but at Lupin once they were alone. Unconsciously, he started pacing in front of the electric fireplace. Then, there was a gentle hand catching Severus' arm and bringing him face-to-face with...

"Severus, it's so good to see you." Remus leaned down and kissed Severus' cheek, his hand sliding down to tangle their fingers together. "I've been so worried since that last raid."

There was a singing in Severus' blood and a buzzing in his ears. He turned his face up and into a proper kiss, which deepened into a snog, and then into two people breathing in each other. For once in his life, Severus felt loved and safe and as if he belonged. He turned his head into Remus' neck and just inhaled for a few moments. Remus' heart was thudding madly against Severus', but they were both very still in their embrace.

Finally, Severus leaned back with one last kiss on Remus' chin and stepped out of those strong arms. "You make it difficult to think, Lup-Remus." Severus turned half away from Remus and stared into the rows of books taking up space along one wall. "I need to talk to you, to all you, about what I've done." 

"Then sit down, Severus. I know Dumbledore's last mission almost killed you, and little Harry. I'm so sorry Lily's dead, but James sends his regards and thanks for the warning." Remus tugged Severus to the settee and pushed him down until he was sitting, then Remus took a Tobias' normal chair. "Sirius believes you now. After Charity's death, he was like a mad man, raging all over England. You gave him purpose—and now that he's met Minerva's grand-daughter he's got something else to live for." Remus leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he clasped his hands between them. "Whatever you need, whatever you did or didn't do, you were thinking of us and bleeding for us, Severus."

"Lupin...Remus...I changed my destiny. I was reviled, hated, spat upon because I'd turned to the Death Eaters willingly but found out my soul was sickened by only one thing: Lily's death. I am no hero, no one to be looked upon with kindness. Call me what I am: I'm a monster who didn't want to alone."

Remus was out of his seat and kneeling in front of Severus, his hands gripping Severus' shoulders tightly. "You told me of nightmares where Sirius almost fed you to me, Severus. You told me of how cowardly I was as a boy in that dark world. You even told Sirius how he'd driven himself so mad that he died falling through the Veil...how can you say you're no hero for changing one thing in your life and sharing that redemption with us? Didn't you tell me your mother died too young, worn out with work and wear? And your da? He was a bogey man, in that time of being unloved, wasn't he?" 

Remus pulled Severus against his chest and whispered into his ear. "You're no saint, Severus Snape, Merlin knows, but you are _my_ hero, and I'll thank you to gather your courage—as you always do—and put aside those tainted memories. We're going to win, and live, and love...and maybe give your parents a few Snapes of another generation once we've settled with Dumbledore." Severus pulled back and saw Remus' cheekbones were reddened, but his eyes were clear and bright with resolve.

"When did we become friends, Remus? I would like that memory to replace the other one."

"In Sixth Year, Lily began succumbing to James' charms and you and I were both put out by it. I had a crush on James; you had stars in your eyes whenever you spoke to Lily. It was almost inevitable that one Advanced Transfiguration project we were paired as partners and that our combined muttering showed how much we really had in common." Remus sat back on his heels, hands now holding onto Severus' forearms. "It only took three weeks, but by the end of it, we had a sofa that could become both bed and dog, and we were on the way to being friends."

"And it was an awful time for me, Snape." Sirius stood leaning against the kitchen door jamb, Eileen and Tobias visible past him as they put together a tea tray. "I had to put up with losing my two best friends to hormones. It was just sickening." Black barked out a laugh and gave Severus a slight smile. "It was also the beginning of my re-education, Snape. When I found myself cut off from James and Lily and little Harry, it was your folks who welcomed me in, and finding out Eileen and I were sixth cousins, I couldn't in good conscience keep plotting your demise." Standing up to his full height, Sirius Black walked over to Severus Snape and held out his hand. "Besides, Athena would have my guts for garters if I kept her friend Rus away from our wedding." 

Without a conscious thought, Severus leapt up from his seat, toppling Remus over as he quickly hugged Black. It was a very quick hug, and had Remus laughing delightedly as he got up. "Well, that explains why you wouldn't let me come alone. Congratulations, old man." The two Gryffindors hugged and broke apart when the tea tray floated into the room in front of Eileen and Tobias.

"Tea and good news, now that's the way to have a Thursday night meetin'," Tobias laughed. "Sit down, fellas, sit down." He patted the settee and looked at Eileen. "Come sit with me, Ma, and show these young fellas how it's done." Tobias tapped on the tea tray and the Brown Betty gently steams as everyone took their seats.

~~~~~~ 

Severus woke up, looked at the curtains surrounding the bed, and sighed. He was back in Hogwarts, and all the wonderful warmth of his revised home life felt like a dream.

"Professor Snape will be getting up now?" Severus turned his head and saw a house-elf holding back the bed curtains. "Picture is askings for you."

He threw back the covers and stretched before rolling out of bed. "Thank you." The house-elf popped away silently and Severus grabbed his wand and then caught up his bathrobe and was shrugged it on as he strode out of the bedroom. 

Sir Isaac Newton was practically quivering in his frame, his hair a bit wild, and his fingers tapping on his worktable. Severus held up a finger when Sir Isaac opened his mouth and checked his surveillance spells. Then, he stepped closer and gave the painting a sharp nod.

"Professor, Headmaster Phineas Nigellus has noted, most indelicately, quote 'the sodding change in both time and infernal politics' unquote." Sir Isaac rolled his eyes and leaned forward. "He sends word that our esteemed current headmaster even now sends instructions to the benighted evil wizard." The portrait leaned back and fidgeted. "I observed several unsavoury characters whilst surveying his office. One was a most loathsome witch..." his voice faded away.

"I know the witch you speak of." Severus began pacing back and forth. "If she's showing herself so openly, things have begun coming to a head." He whirled back to share a considering look with Sir Isaac. "Sir Isaac, I have one more mission for you." He leaned very close to the painting and began whispering.

~~~~~~ 

Months later, watching Longbottom kill the damned Nagini, Severus smiled grimly, and gingerly, the wound in his throat making it an effort. He sent his Patronus to Remus, triggering the last assault, and saw Death Eaters shocked into retreat as Aurors and other witches and wizards suddenly appeared during the battle. The house-elves had outdone themselves transporting allies under Dumbledore and Riddle's noses.

Severus found himself working his way through the fighting, one burning desire driving him toward a shadowy figure hiding in the darkness of the blasted great doors. A burning red bolt almost struck Severus, but some instinct had him ducking out of the way, a purple bolt of his own flung in response. Soon, Severus was duelling with Dumbledore, the Hogwarts ghosts sliding in and out of the walls their only witnesses as the headmaster muttered cutting hexes and other dark spells while Severus' light magic shields and his own finely-crafted spells kept forcing the elder wizard back and onto the teachers' dais.

Standing in the remains of the now blasted high table, Dumbledore growled low in his throat. "Damn you, Severus! Why aren't you dead yet? _Avada Kedavra!_ " he shouted.

Severus dived behind a pile of rubble, the stones melting slightly with the strength of Dumbledore's ill intent. He gritted his teeth when the motion jarred every injury he'd collected that day. He caught sight of the Bloody Baron and saw that the spectre wasn't alone, which brought a grim smile to his face. "I've always proven hard to kill, Albus, haven't I? _Furnunculus!_ " He nodded to the Bloody Baron and moved farther away from the headmaster. "How many times have you tried to kill me, Albus? How many failures came before this?" Manoeuvring his way around broken chairs and the remains of the Slytherin table, Severus kept taunting Dumbledore, drawing his attention.

"You've been a thorn in my side since I first set eyes on you, Severus. Your father was supposed to have beaten you; instead, you came here hale and hearty. Your mother was supposed to die young and here she is fighting as if she were an Auror. You even turned Sirius Black! How in Merlin's name did you do that?" Dumbledore ground his teeth together, and sparks flew from his mouth. "I groomed him to fail, Severus. I groomed Harry to sacrifice himself and now he's fighting Tom as if he's had Auror training." Suddenly, a dung bomb came out of the darkness and had Severus diving for a moment's cover, his eyes stinging as he coughed uncontrollably.

When Severus recovered, he was yards away from the headmaster. Dumbledore's lips were forming the Killing Curse when the Hogwarts ghosts descended on him. They weren't alone. The ghosts of Lily Potter and Cedric Diggory were at the head of a grey fog made up of others murdered by the Death Eaters. Soon they were giving voice to their revenge, the Bloody Baron silently directing them to encircle Dumbledore.

"No! No, I killed you myself! Cedric, no!" Dumbledore was soon lost under a writhing spectral blanket, his screams and wild spell-casting slowly dying away as the each ghost retreated. Severus saw them leaving with what looked like a piece of Albus, something thin and sparkling in their transparent hands. Finally, Albus Dumbledore was crumpled on the floor of the Great Hall, gibbering in fear. "Gonna be great, Abie. Gonna be king. No, no, didn't mean it, Arabella, didn't mean to break you. Just an accident, Tom, I'll make it better..." Dumbledore's voice rose and fell, the words slurring together and then suddenly becoming clear. "Nothing, you're nothing, boy. I'll obliviate you!"

Severus summoned Dumbledore's wand from where it was hanging uselessly in his hand. The other wizard didn't even notice. The Bloody Baron appeared in front of Severus and doffed his helm. "The castle is secure once more, Headmaster Snape." Severus' head turned with an audible snap.

"I'm not the headmaster—"

"The castle has chosen you, Headmaster Snape." The Baron smirked. "Changing your destiny may not always be to your comfort." Someone was shouting outside. "Your allies have prevailed, Headmaster, and the castle is yours once more." The Baron bowed deeply. "I pledge my sword and spirit to the good works you shall endeavour, Headmaster Snape." The Slytherin ghost donned his helmet once more and slowly faded away as Remus' excited yells announced his presence.

Severus grasped Dumbledore's wand in his hand, hard, and turned around with a dramatic sigh. "You do realize that shouting like that would only draw more attention to my plight, if I was in a plight." He smirked at Remus' gobsmacked face and then indicated the broken dark wizard muttering to himself behind him. "Although, perhaps this time I might let it—"

Remus interrupted his snark with a smacking kiss, then they stepped outside to find Harry Potter had defeated Voldemort at the same time Dumbledore had lost his mind. Severus was still irascible, he was still a bit impatient with dunderheads, and he loathed showing sentiment, but, now he was loved, and that made a world of difference to his reception by his friends and allies.

~~~~~~ 

Five years later, Headmaster Severus Snape looked on from the pews at Harry Potter wed Luna Lovegood, supported by his godfather, Sirius and his wife, Athena. Minerva looked on with restrained pride whilst the shades of Hogwarts' Founders hovered in the backround. He curled his little finger over Remus' as their hands lay on the seat between them. They stood and applauded when the Hogwarts ghosts and house-elves presented Harry and Luna with their special gifts, and Severus let their hands gently part, content that later on they'd be touching more than just pinkies.

_After the newlyweds had gone on their way, and Severus and Remus had slipped away from the festivities to the headmaster's office..._

"Oh, god, Sev...so hot..." Remus breathed out. Laid out across the wide desk, Severus was a buffet of textures and a feast for Remus' hands and eyes. He kissed Severus' bare stomach and smiled against the jumping muscles. "I never dreamed of fucking in the headmaster's office, but you do make this look awfully sexy, Severus." Remus bit his way across the quivering flesh and then up across Severus' chest.

Severus fought gravity and lust to raise his head and half-heartedly glare at Remus' smiling face. "Then don't waste the opportunity, Remus. How many times will you be asked to bare your arse in this office?" 

Remus leaned down to lick his cock, and Severus gasped. "I'm certainly going to try to make a regular occurrence as long as you're headmaster, Severus. Or am I the _headmaster_ tonight?" Remus mused huskily. He bent back to his task and took Severus' cock into his mouth, tongue curling around the glans as he suckled the hardness. The portraits on the wall peeked through painted lashes and tinted fingers, to Remus' delight until the Bloody Baron appeared and drove them away without a sound. Not that the pair on the desk noticed, caught up as they were in celebrating all Severus' hard work...and magic of Hogwarts destiny-changing scroll.

~~~~~~ 

_~~~ En Fin ~~~_

**Author's Note:**

>  **Original prompt**  
>  **Name:** Philly  
>  **Pairing(s)/Characters:** none or any  
>  **For Fic/Art/Either:** Either  
>  **Prompt:** Snape finds a scroll with a spell that [lets] him go back in time and alter one event in his life.  
>  **Maximum Rating (G to NC-17):** Any  
>  **Likes:** Open to anything except the dislikes  
>  **Dislikes:** [Ron Weasley]  &; Dumbledore portrayed as good guys when they weren't.


End file.
